Reflections
by SilverWings211
Summary: based on Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky  Set after returning to the present after a close shave in the future, Rio the Riolu and Grovyle contemplate on how things have changed since meeting Amelia  the human-turned-Vulpix . one-shot.


i don't anything to do with Pokemon!

enjoy and review

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><p>It was almost sunrise when Grovyle opened his eyes and looked around. The fire had died down to almost nothing while they had been asleep. Amelia, the Vulpix who had once been his human partner, was still there and was fast asleep. But her constant companion, the Riolu everyone called Rio, wasn't in the belly of the Sharpedo Bluff. So where had he gone?<p>

He had warned the two not to go near Treasure Town, the settlement where the Pokemon dwelt, or the Wigglytuff Guild, where Amelia and Rio had trained together for so long before being dragged into the future, so he wasn't going to be too far.

Grovyle left the Sharpedo Bluff, and found the blue baby Fighting Pokemon standing on the cliff overlooking the sea.

"What's the matter?" he asked, joining Rio. "Couldn't you sleep?"

"No," Rio said. "I was just thinking."

"Thinking about Dusknior?" Grovyle asked. Dusknoir had taken advantage of Amelia's amnesia and manipulated them into trusting him; then he had dragged them into the future to be executed. At the time, he had had no idea why Dusknoir had dragged two innocents into this mess. He had been shocked when he had learnt the truth, right at the point when they seemed to be ultimately trapped: that the Vulpix he was with was really the girl he had partnered with in the future. And he had known that Rio had really respected Dusknoir –the Fighting-type had struggled to believe it when he had learnt what Dusknoir was really like.

"No, I wasn't," Rio said. "Sure, it was a huge shock to find out we were being deceived all along. But hearing what you said about the future, Grovyle –it really drove it home. What Dusknoir said in the future was true, and it made me realise that Amelia really does come from the future as well. I was mulling over things like that."

Rio looked over his shoulder as he saw something out of the corner of the eyes. The darkness was no longer dark. "Hey, look, Grovyle! It's sunlight! Sunrise has come!"

The two Pokemon watched as the sun began to creep over the horizon, signalling the start of the new day. Rio had never thought he would be slow glad to see the sunrise come up, but that had been before he had been plunged into the paralysed state of the world in the future. A breeze whipped past them, and Rio breathed deeply.

"It sure is pretty, isn't it?" Rio asked, referring to the sun.

"Yes," Grovlye replied.

"Maybe it was because we were in the future for so long, but I didn't think that a sunrise could ever seem so renewing! The sun rises, and then it sets. I always thought it was a cycle that would never stop, and we took it for granted. And that's normal and everything, but that's natural, but I won't make that mistake again. The things we take for granted –they're the most essential moments, and the most precious."

"You're right," Grovyle said. "All I had known was that future of eternal darkness. Upon arriving in this world, and seeing the sun coming up for the first time –well, it was staggering. It strengthened my resolve to turn history away from the future darkness."

The two were silent for a while, watching as the sun crept higher and higher into the sky. Then Grovyle turned to Rio.

"There is one thing I wanted to talk to you about, Rio," he said.

"What is it?" Rio replied.

"It's about what happened back in the future –when we were confronted by Dialga. Frankly we were in a no-win situation. There was no hope..."

_They were surrounded on all sides by a swarm of Sableye, only yards from the time tunnel that should take them back to the past, with Dusknoir blocking their way and Primal Dialga towering above them, menacing in the gloom._

_It was the four of them: him, Celebi, and Rio and Amelia. He could tell the younger two were afraid, even as they stood ready for a fight. His partner, the girl-turned Vulpix was baring her fangs, but he knew it would do no good. They had failed._

"_We shall be rid of you for all time!" Dusknoir pronounced, enjoying his change to gloat at Grovyle. "This is the end for you!"_

_The Sableye were closing in; they were outnumbered heavily. And even if they did fight their way through the Sableye, Dialga was there. Suddenly he heard Rio's voice._

"_Hey, Amelia! Grovyle! You can't give up!"_

"_You say we shouldn't give up?" Grovyle asked, surprised by Rio's tone. He had thought that Rio didn't have that much courage, but it looked like he had been wrong. "But what can we do in such a bleak situation?"_

"_We can't give up!" Rio said. "Team PokePals has never given up before! We just have to think!"_

"But when it seemed like there was no way out, you found a way. You refused to give up, no matter what. Even I had given up hope. So what compelled you? How did you manage to remain so strong?"

"Well... now that it's over, I wonder too," Rio said. "But maybe –yeah, it was because Amelia was standing beside me!"

"Amelia?" Grovyle repeated.

"Yeah," Rio said. He took something he was wearing around his neck and showed it to Grovyle. "Take a look at this."

"It's unusual," Grovyle said, studying the pattern intently. "It's a strange design inscribed on here. I've never seen anything like it before, and that's saying a lot. But this pattern is completely new to me."

"This is my Relic Fragment," Rio said, putting it back over his neck. "I found it a long time ago, and it became my dream to one day solve the mystery behind this fragment.

"But back then, I was such a coward. I couldn't stand up for myself, and I couldn't work up the courage to go to the Wigglytuff Guild to apply as an apprentice.

"That's when it happened –that was the day I met Amelia. She cheered me on and gave me the confidence to stand up for myself...

_They were standing in a sandy cove, facing Koffing and Zubat. Rio was trembling slightly at the sight of the two ruffians who had made off with his Relic. Amelia's eyes glinted slightly, and she nudged her new friend forward. That push was all he needed._

"_Hey, you! I want my Relic Fragment back!" he all but yelled at them. Amelia sighed –it was a start at least._

"She became someone I looked up to, and I felt I could trust anything she said...

_They were standing in front of a powerful waterfall. Amelia had sworn that there was a cave on the other side rather than a wall of rock. And she must be confident to make that call –she was a Fire-type and water was her worst enemy._

"_Well, OK!" Rio said, gathering his strength to make the jump. "I'm putting all my faith in you, Amelia! Yeah, I totally believe you!" _

_They leapt together, and ended up in a cave, just like Amelia had described._

"She gave me the courage I needed to face anything...

_The two of them were facing a huge red Pokemon. It was a Groundon, towering over them and powerful._

"_OK, this is scary –but we need to be brave! I need to face up to this! There's no running away now, Amelia!"_

"Everything she did gave me courage," Rio said. "With Amelia, I felt that I could overcome any challenge. That's how I came to feel over time. And maybe that's why I could keep going without giving up!"

Grovyle could relate to what Rio was saying. There had been a time when he, too, had been given the strength to keep going by Amelia –a long time ago, in the future.

_He had been a Treeko at the time, navigating the paralysed woods of the future. A lot of Pokemon had been driven crazy by the environment; Pokemon that might have been friendly in the past had short tempers and attacked anything that entered their range. And Pokemon that had had an attitude in the past were worse than criminals._

_He was just an innocent who had wondered into the realm of a Growlithe without knowing it. He was suddenly hit by a Flamethrower. As he fell from the tree, he knew he was seriously hurt, and his vision was hazy. The Growlithe advanced on him._

_Suddenly, a torrent of water erupted from the bushes nearby and hit the Growlithe clean in the face. It barked in surprise, but didn't back off. It just stood there, growling. A second rush of water hit the fire-type and the bully ran away, scared out of its mind._

_A human emerged from the bushes, holding what looked like a toy gun (AN: a water gun). She put it down and slowly approached the injured Grass-type. "Don't worry, Treeko, I'm here to help," she told him._

_Treeko was surprised to see a human –they were a rare breed but they still existed, mainly in hiding. The human was a girl, and she picked him up, holding him gently but firmly. He was too weak to fight back anyway._

"_You just hang in there, you hear?" the girl said as she began to run. They were in the mountains before they ran into difficulty. Suddenly a Sableye leapt down from a ledge. As the girl backed away, more appeared and surrounded her._

"_You should know better than to venture here, Amelia" said a deep voice. Dusknoir descended, and that was the first time Treeko saw the Pokemon that would prove to be the biggest hindrance in his life. "You humans have the towns beyond this range –there is no need for you to trespass."_

"_I don't have time for this," Amelia said. "Get out of my way, Dusknoir!"_

"_Not this time," Dusknoir said. "You need a little time behind bars." He motioned to the Sableye, who moved in. Treeko saw Amelia looking around, searching for an opening but he found none. It looked hopeless._

"_Don't worry, Treeko," Amelia said, and he looked up at the human. "I'll protect you, I promise."_

_In that instant, a bond was formed. Amelia pulled out a Light Orb and threw it at the ground, covering Treeko's eyes with her hands to prevent him from being blinded. She dashed through a gap as the Sableye got confused from the blast of light, something that wasn't seen every day. They were across the border between human and Pokemon territory before the Sableye knew what had happened._

"_Looks like I'm one Light Orb short," Amelia told him. She pulled a scroll out of her bag. "Still, it was well worth it to get this –the Scroll of Time. This contains information about the Time Gears, knowledge Dusknoir doesn't want us humans to know. But he can't stop us now."_

_From then on, the two of them had worked together, an inseparable team; he had evolved into a Grovyle and gained a lot of power. And it was all because of an act of kindness Amelia had shown years ago, an act that she had forgotten but one he never would forget._

"I think I understand what you're saying. Amelia has a special quality when it comes to making friends with Pokemon. In the same way that I care for Amelia as a friend –you feel the same way about her too.

"Amelia is lucky, to be blessed with a friend like you."

He looked around: the sun was up properly now, and day was here again. "We should leave soon."

A little while later, they had eaten and were ready for the journey to gather up all the Time Gears again.

"First, we have to decide which of the Time Gears we should target," Grovyle said.

"From here, the Underground Lake would be the closest," Rio said, pulling out the map the two had been given when they had joined the guild –back in what felt like a different lifetime.

"How about Treeshroud Forest?" Grovyle suggested, pointing out an area completely unfamiliar to the two: a large forest to the north-east that seemed to stretch out for miles. "That's where I got my first Time Gear last time. It is a little far from here –but there is the bonus that we won't have to fight someone like Uxie, Mesprit or Azelf for possession of the Time Gear there."

"It would be a bonus if we don't have to fight," Amelia said. She wanted to help Grovyle after mucking up the mission because of her memory loss, but she had been worried about revealing themselves to the Guardians straight away –she was sure that not only would they not understand the situation, but they would also report their presence to the Guild. And that would cause real problems in their quest to stop Time from stopping.

"Yeah, if we had to fight someone over a Time Gear, that would attract attention," Rio agreed. "But that won't be a problem here, right? So that's where we're going!"

The three headed out, sneaking around the edges of Treasure Town and avoiding the main paths that the Guild members used when coming and going on missions. Treeshroud Forest was miles away, and it was almost noon before they got there. As they stood at the borders of the forest, they noticed that none of the usual sounds were coming from within.

"What's going on, Grovyle?" Amelia asked, noticing that the Grass-type was sniffing the air.

"The atmosphere somehow feels very different than the last time I was here. I don't know –maybe I'm imagining it."

With that, they entered the forest. As they got further inside, Amelia began to feel more and more uneasy. Since this was a forest, she had been expecting to see evidence of the Pokemon that inhabited this place. But there was a deathly silence. After wandering through the deepest, darkest parts of the woods, the trees thinned out as they stepped out into a glen.

"What is this?" Grovyle asked no one in particular. The landscape was almost grey, and there were Pokemon in mid-run near them –it looked as though they were frozen. One of them was a Ninetales. "It looks as though Time is at a standstill here!"

"But that can't be!" Rio said. "Before we were dragged off into the future with you, Grovyle..."

"Uxie, Mesprit and Azelf promised to set all the Time Gears back in their rightful places!" Amelia said, rememebering as well.

"But Time has remained frozen here..." Grovyle said.

"You don't think –haven't they returned the Time Gears yet?" Rio asked.

"We'll see," Grovlye said, leading the way to an altar-like structure that was in the centre of the clearing. There was a green light shining from it. The Time Gear was there after all. "It's the Time Gear. There's no mistaking it."

"But, time here seems to have stopped." Rio said, looking around. Everything was still, with a freezing presence that reminded them of the future's world of enduring darkness. No wind was blowing, leaves in mid-fall were suspended in mid-air. "Why is this happening?"

Grovyle was silent; then he reached out and took the Time Gear.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Rio asked.

"Time has already stopped here," Grovyle said, placing the gear in the bag around his neck. "It won't make any difference if I take the Time gear now. There's also –something worse."

"Something worse?" Rio said. "What could be worse than this?"

Grovyle didn't answer his questions, heading for the edge of the glen as the younger two fell into step behind him. At the edge, he stopped and looked back. "Let's leave. Rio, there's something I'd like you to do."

"What is it?" Rio asked.

"Before you come back to Sharpedo Bluff, I'd like you to gather some information in Treasure Town," Grovyle said.

"I thought you told us not to go anywhere near Treasure Town," Rio said, surprised at the contradiction.

"Yes, but there's something I want you to find out for us," Grovyle said. "Learn everything you can about what's happening in the world right now."

It made sense , even to Amelia –if they knew what the situation was in the world, they could plot their new course of action in accordance. They couldn't afford to be in the dark.

"OK, I'll go find out," Rio said, about to run ahead. Grovyle held him back.

"Remember –everyone thinks you've gone to the future," Grovyle warned. "Therefore..."

"I get it," Rio said. "If they found out I'm back, there would be an uproar. I'll keep low and get some news."

"Good, I'm counting on you," Grovyle said. Rio took off, running ahead of them.

It had been a while since Grovyle and Amelia had returned to the Sharpedo's Bluff. It was almost nightfall. Amelia was anxious about her friend –what was taking him so long? Finally the foliage at the top of the hideout was removed, and Rio emerged into the firelight hidden cavern.

"I've got some news like you wanted," Rio said.

"So what's the word?" Grovyle asked, sitting down beside the fire.

"The word is –not very good," Rio said, and he looked grave. "After we went to the future, Uxie and the oters returned the Time Gears to their rightful places. Everyone was happy because they thought time wouls return to normal.

"But time remained stopped; and even worse, the Timeless areas are spreading. Time's stopping in more and more places."

Amelia was alarmed –Time was still stopping, even with the Time Gears in place?

"Everyone's upset and concerned because no-one can figure out what the problem is."

"Grovyle, do you know what this means?" Amelia asked. The Grass-type inclined his head.

"If Time is stopping in a widening area, it can only mean one thing –Temporal Tower has began to collapse."

"Temporal Tower –it's collapsing?" Rio asked. "But how would that affect anything?"

"Temporal Tower gives structure to Time," Grovyle said. "So if it starts to collapse, then Time itself will soon follow. Time will collapse in ever-widening area, until the planet's paralysis comes down."

He could see that, even though Amelia couldn't remember her life before becoming a Pokemon, she recognised the dangers. They had seen the awful paralysed world that was the future.

"The problem is starting to accelerate. The planet's paralysis is coming on fast –we don't have much time left."

"We have to hurry, then!" Rio said, shocked and desperate to do anything about it.

"You're right –if we don't hurry, the planet will become fully paralysed," Grovyle said, deciding now was the time to reveal the extent of the mission they had to complete relatively quickly. They had both pledged so much to help him –he was grateful, but he had to let them now that it was only going to get harder. "There's only one way to stop the destruction of Time now –we need to gather the Time Gears, and then they must be put in place in Temporal Tower where Dialga lives.

"But there is a problem –Temporal Tower is located in a place called the Hidden Land. As the name suggests...no-one knows the location of the Hidden Land. It was removed from the texts I studied. It was a secret only Dialga's forces knew."

"But –there isn't enough time!" Rio said. How were they going to gather the Time Gears and find the Hidden Land, get to the Tower and restore Time in the short time they had left?

"That's right –it will take twice as long if we remain together," Grovyle said. "That's why I think we need to split up for now. I'll go collect the rest of the Time Gears. In the meantime, I want you two to look for the Hidden Land."

"Understood!" Rio said –he had his enthusiasm back.

"OK, then," Grovyle said, getting to his feet. He led them out onto the head of the bluff, before turning back to give them a few words of encouragement. "I know this much –the Hidden Land is somewhere in this world. Unfortunately, there are no clues as to where it is exactly. Considering that no-one has discovered it yet –we must assume that it is quite far away. We must even consider crossing the sea, and discover the means to do so!"

"Cross the sea..." Rio pondered. He wasn't too worried about it, but Amelia was a Fire-type.

"I'm sorry that I don't have knowledge about how to do that," Grovyle said. "I'm counting on you two. I'll be off to gather the Time Gears. Good luck!" he leapt into the trees, passing through the leaves like a blur.

The next morning the two were rested and ready to begin. The two scampered down to the sandy beach where they had first met and then returned to with Grovyle. The beach was thankfully deserted –it was still relatively early. Treasue Town and the Wigglytuff Guild were probably still fast asleep.

"Oh, this is hopeless," Rio sighed, plonking himself down on the sand. Amelia glanced at her partner before lying down beside him.

"It's not like you to give up so easily," Amelia said. "We said we would find the Hidden land and a way to get there. We promised."

She didn't mention her other reason for being so determined –she owed Grovyle quite a lot after believing he was a criminal and being used as a puppet by Dusknior to capture him last time; she was eager to help him, even if she couldn't remember their past partnership. Grovyle and Celebi were her friends in the future, and she never turned her back on friends. Now the world needed her help, in both the present and future.

"I know," Rio sighed. "But I'm not coming up with anything. I agreed to search for the Hidden Land, but... where do you suppose we should start looking? And there's no time!"

"I'm sorry –if I could just remember all the research I did with Grovyle," Amelia sighed. It was so frustrating having amnesia. They had so little information to go on. There was no time to waste –they needed to locate the Hidden Land as soon as possible –they had to get to Temporal Tower, put the Time Gears inside.

"It's not your fault," Rio said.

"If we fail, our planet will be paralysed," Amelia said, thinking out loud. "We have to stop that from happening –that's the whole reason Grovyle and I came here in the first place. Celebi put herself in danger for us –twice. We have to stop it, no matter what. And to do that...well..."

"Ameila?" Rio asked. His friend was doing some serious thinking. She stood up suddenly and nudged at him.

"Come on –there's only one thing we can do," she said.

"What's that?" Rio asked.

"We have no choice," Amelia said. "We need everyone's help to pull this off. Let's go to Wigglytuff's Guild!"

"What!" Rio asked. "You want to go back to the Guild? Why? We disappeared right in front of them! I miss them, and I'm sure they're worried about us –but everything we saw in the future...everything we've learnt about the future, about Grovyle and Dusknoir, and even about your own past, Amelia. If we tell the Guild, how can they possibly believe us?"

"They'll believe us!" Amelia insisted. The members of the Guild were their friends in the present.

"You really think so?" Rio asked. "Everyone in this world is convinced that Grovyle's the villain. And they all think that Dusknoir's a really great Pokemon, don't they?"

"We both saw the future –we know the truth!" Amelia said. "Rio, I know it's hard to accept, but Dusknior was using us –he nearly killed us."

"I know," Rio said. Ameila was shocked –was he still trying to believe that there was good in Dusknior? "I don't want to believe it. Even if we tell them the truth, I wonder if they would be able to accept it."

"I know there's a chance that no-one will believe us when we tell them the truth," Amelia said firmly, a tone of command in her voice. "But at least they'll hear us out. It's a risk I'm willing to take."

"But why?" Rio asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Amelia asked. "We're running out of time. We're out of leads, searching blindly. It's only a matter of time before Grovyle has to confront Azelf, Mespirit and Uxie. We don't have a lot of time for setbacks before the world's ruined.

"We need everyone's help, Rio!"

"I understand," Rio said. "OK, you're right, Amelia! Let's go home –to Wigglytuff's Guild!"

"Thanks, Rio," Amelia said as they ran together. Treasure Town was still silent as they slipped through, dared up the flight of stairs that led to the entrance of the Wigglytuff Guild, back where their adventures together had begun.

_Hold on,Grovyle! _Amelia though as they stared up at the entrance of the tent, feeling rather nostalgic._ We're going to find the Hidden Land!_


End file.
